The objective is to support the development of the Herschel Science Data Processing by designing, implementing, testing and documenting data analysis packages written in Java and Jython on a Linux platform.
This software will be developed jointly between ESA and the instrument teams, with ESA providing the framework within which the instrument teams can develop and optimise instrument-specific data reduction algorithms. The Herschel Data Processing System will be distributed to the astronomical community.
Specific tasks include:
· Development and maintenance of numerical routines and advanced functions (fitting, smoothing, rebinning, filtering, modelling, feature extraction, correlation, statistical functions, etc)
· Development and maintenance of data structures, including accessing them locally and from object oriented and relational databases
· Development and maintenance of graphical libraries
· Development and maintenance of framework that permits both interactively and automatic data processing
· Development and maintenance of means to visualise various projections of one-, two- and three-dimensional data in various coordinate systems
· Graphical user interface (GUI) maintenance and development
· Setting up and providing access to web-services working in the VO context
· System testing, including its performance aspects
· Writing and maintenance of documentation
Specific qualification requirements:
· A university degree in computer science, physics, electronic engineering, or equivalent.
Specific knowledge is required in the following areas:
· Several years of relevant experience in general software development and software engineering.
· Programming languages: JAVA
· Unix based systems (Linux or Solaris)
· Configuration control system: CVS
· Object Oriented design methods
· Eagerness to embrace new concepts and methods is an advantage
· Knowledge of Jython is an advantage
· Knowledge of data structures is an advantage
· Knowledge of GUI development is an advantage
· Knowledge of process communication is an advantage
· Knowledge of XML is an advantage
· Experience to write user documentation is an advantage
· Knowledge of using Object Oriented and Relational Data base systems is an advantage
· Experience in scientific/astronomical data reduction systems is an advantage.
Experience in interacting with the science community would be an advantage. The selected contractors must be willing operate in a team environment and to travel. Good interpersonal and communication skills are an advantage. The contractors should be comfortable in an international working environment and be fluent in English, one of the official languages of ESA.
Other Requirements:
European Citizenship
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATION: November 3, 2006 | 
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